y 


A 

0 

uc  so 

II 

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UTHEHN 

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^^^^^=   > 

.A.  ID  ID  I^  E!  S  S 

ON   THE 

SI7CCESS   OF   XTO-LZCEXTSE 

IN 

NORWICH   AND   NEW   LONDON, 

AS   PKOVED   BY 

THE  OFFICIAL  RECORDS. 


DELIVERED  I^'  NORIVICH  AND  NEW  LONDON, 

BY      REV.      L.      T.      OH  AJMBERLAIN, 

Pastor  of  Broadway  Cfaurch,  Norvricb. 


\ 


PRINTED  FOR  DISTRIBUTION  IN  THE  TWO  CITIES. 
ORDERS    FILLED    AT    THE    COST    RATE    OF    $7.00    PER    THOUSAND. 

ADDRESS  Rev.  L.  T.  Chamberlain,  Norwich,  Ct. 


liQSB   LIBRARY 


^  x>  13  lit  e: 


^5    ^^ 


Mr.  President  and  Feij.ow-Citt- 
ZENS:  Five  months  a.ifo,  tlie  citizens 
of  Norwif'li  and  New  London  met  to 
conpidcr  till' effects  of  No-License.  We 
all  felt  that  sufHcient  time  bad  elapsed 
for  the  arrival  at  decisive  conclusions. 
We  recoijnized  the  truth  that  the  cause 
was  to  find  its  practical  defeat  or  tri- 
umph in  the  observation  and  lecor'd  of 
iTsiilts.  It  was  then  said  from  this  plat- 
form. "If  the  facts  are  against  us,  we 
wish  to  know  it.  If  they  are  for  us,  we 
wish  our  opponents  to  join  us  in  ac- 
knowledgment thereof.  For,  by  the  re- 
sults, we  stand  or  fall.  To  be  con- 
demned in  the  matter  of  results,  is  to  be 
assigned  not  only  to  preseiTt  obloquy, 
but  also  to  future  defeat."  It  was  pro- 
claimed, moreover,  that  nothing  would 
suffice,  save  the  proved  realities  and  the 
authentic  record;  thit  the  only  iionesf, 
as  the  only  wise  course,  was  to  search 
the  ca.se  to  its  actual  events. 

You  will  join  me  to-night,  fellow- 
citizen>s,  1  am  sure,  in  the  reiteration  ot 
those  fearless  words.  Neither  you,  nor 
I,  nor  any  well  wisher  of  Temperance, 


will  ask  for  eva-;ion  or  conceal  incut. 
We  have  no  purpo.se  to  shut  our  eyes  to 
the  tiling  that  is  veritable.  Show  us  the 
evidence,  and  we  will  admit  the  infer- 
ence to  which  the  evidence  points.  We 
welcome  the  truth,  the  whole liutii,  and 
nothing  but  the  truth. 
As  Chaucer  says. — 

"Tnitli  is  the  liighe.st    tiling    tliat    luan    may 
keep." 

And  weadinit,  with  equal  unre.serve. 
that  the  conclusions  t.)  which  tlie  results 
point  us  tonight,  will  justly  he  even 
more  decisive  than  those  of  Jive  months 
ago.  The  period  of  trial  has  been 
extended  to  double  the  former  limit.  Ii 
now  verges  upon  a  year  since,  in  these 
two  cities,  the  decree  against  the  sale  of 
intoxicating  li((uors  as  a  beverage,  was 
pas.sed  by  popular  vote.  If,  theiel'ore, 
the  former  period  levievved  gave  signifi- 
cant results,  the  period  now  to  be  sur- 
veyed will  be  doubly  suggestive.  E.\- 
perience  is  more  than  mere  theory.  For 
one,  I  fully  recognize  that  fact.  For 
one,  I  have  pledged  myself  to  abide  that 
te.st  rightfully  applied      Show  me  Hiat 


fair  experiineiit  reveals  the  unailvisabli- 
ness  of  No-Licoiise,  and  I  will  cease  its 
adv.()eacy,  from  this  hour  fortli.  God 
forbid  tJiat  any  of  us  sh(nild  seek  the 
maintenance  of  wiial  is  proved  to  be 
worthless. 

I  would  only  desire,  that  those  op- 
posed to  us  should  unite  in  the  same 
confession  of  purpose.  It  would  be 
enouj^h,  if  they  too  would  sincere- 
ly pledge  themselvc.«;  to  be  ruled  by  the 
autiienticaled  demands  of  the  public 
welfare.  If  only  that  fair  premise  might 
be  agreed  upon,  conflict  would  soon 
give  place  to  accord.  For  the  results  are 
overwhelming  in  their  conchniveness 
They  are  .so  plain  that  he  may  run  who 
reads.  They  are  so  manifold  that  even 
the  foolish  need  not  err  with  regard 
thereto! 

And  yet,  before  I  name  the  results, 
let  me  point  out  certain  considerations 
which  should  be  borne  in  mind.  Con- 
siderations pertinent  not  only  to  this 
discussion,  but  essentially  to  all  ques- 
tions of  the  public  well-being.  It  is  of 
exceeding  importance  that  we  ri.se 
to  the  ground  that  is  both  fair  and  fun- 
damental. 

In  the  first  place,  then,  it  is  not  war- 
rantable to  rest  the  decision  of  such 
issues,  upon  the  mere  record  as  figured 
and  tabulated.  Tluit  record  is  itself  to 
be  viewed  in  the  light  of  the  principles 
to  which  it. stands  related.  A  moment 
ago,  I  pledged  myself  to  abide  the  test  of 
fair  experiment.  Ob.serve,  fair  experi- 
ment. I  announced  my  abandonment  of 
what  ever  was  proved  worthless.  Ob- 
serve,the  worthlessness  was  lo  be  proved. 
I  now  add, accordingly,  that  the  fairness 
of  an  experiment  includes  something 
more  than  that  an  cxiu'rimcnt  has  been 
made;  and  that  the  ])roof  of  worthless- 
ness must  go  Ixivond  I  In-  mere  citation 
of  figures. 

For  example.     .Supj>j.se   thnt    in    our 


midst,  the  crime  of  highwa\'  robbery 
should  become  prevalent  and  .systemat- 
ic. Suppose  it  .should  gain  the  power 
which  comes  from  wealth  and  numbers. 
Suppose,  too,  that  the  citizens,  in  self- 
defense,  should  pass  a  special  law 
against  it;  should  characterize  it  as  it 
deserved,  and  should  essaj^  to  rid  them- 
selves of  its  curse.  Suppose,  however, 
that  the  highwaymen,  in  iheir  criminal- 
ity, awd  in  their  determination  to  show 
the  law  to  be  futile,  should  multiply 
their  robberies,  and  should  add  the  ter- 
rors of  murder,  Jis  well;  that,  for  a  brief 
period,  the}'  should  prevail  by  a  violence 
which  wiu>  like  that  of  armed  invasion 
and  rapine!  Would  that  be  a  fair  ex- 
periment? Would  the  law  have  been 
shown  to  be  valueless';' 

You  answer,  at  once,  and  with  all  the 
conscience  and  c  mimon-sense  you  pos- 
sess, "No!  The  law  was  simply  inade- 
quate. Its  enforcement  was  insutticient. 
Il  lacked  sustaining  power."  And  in 
the  same  breath  with  which  you  named 
the  deficiency,  you  would  name  the 
remedy.  You  would  say,  "'Let  the  au- 
thorities redouble  their  efforts.  Let 
them  arm  themselves  with  their  own 
utmost  prerogatives  And  if  even  that 
be  insufiicient,  let  them  .summon  the 
people  to  their  aid,  until  there  be  not 
another  hand  which  can  be  lifted  for 
tlie  common  defense."  Y^ou  would  look 
past  the  present  increase  of  woe,  to  see 
that  the  relief  was  lo  be  sought  in  the 
one  direction  of  increased  support  of  the 
law.  You  would  aver  that  there  was 
no  option;  that  to  gain  respite  by  the 
compassion  of  out-laws,  would  be  fatal 
disgrace,  and  that  to  be  overpowered  by 
them,woidd  be  the  end  of  all  free,  right- 
eous government. 

Fellow-citizens,  that  illustration  is 
applicable  in  more  relations  than  one. 
It  not  only  .shows  that  statistical  re.sults, 
the  observed  outward  aspects>  are  t<»  be 


viewed  in  their  relations,  as  wtfll  as 
in  tiiemselves;  it  also  siiows  tliat  t^iere 
niav  be  considerations  wiiicii  transcend 
tile  so-called  practical  results,  and  hold 
sway  even  in  apparent  spite  of  them. 
You  could'nt  do  otherwise  than  oppose 
the  highwaj'inen,  whether  you  succeed- 
ed or  not ! 

Well,  as  the  case  stands  with  refer- 
ence to  license,  it  is  not  far  otlier wise. 
On  the  one  hand, — and  I  pray  that  the 
alternatives  may  be  remembered — on  the 
one  hand,  you  have  to  deal,  not  with 
an  ideal  system  of  license,  in  which  the 
public  welfare  should  be  the  end,  and 
in  which  that  end  should  be  secured  by 
confining  the  sale  of  liquors  as  a 
beverage,  to  a  few,  responsible,  consid- 
erate persons:  but  you  have  to  deal  with 
a  license  whi(;ii  means,  practically,  the 
engaging  in  the  traffic  of  all  who  choose, 
anrt  who  can  pay  the  license  fee.  That 
is  what  license  means  histotically. 
That  is  what  it  has  meant  in  Norwich 
and  New  London,  in  all  the. years  of  its 
prevalence.  As  I  chance  to  know,  the 
citizen  of  Norwich  who  was  most  con- 
cerned in  the  pass.ige  of  the  Act  by  the 
Legislature,  earnc-^tly  endeavored  to  se- 
cure the  ideal  application  of  it  to  his 
municipality.  He  counseled  the  Select- 
men lo  put  the  permissive  licen.se  in  the 
hands  of  the  trustworthy  few.  He  en- 
treated them.  But  the  inherent  import 
of  the  law  itself,  and  the  fierce  pressure 
from  witiiout,  broke  down  the  iraprac- 
(icable  theory.  Permissions  were  grant- 
ed to  the  larger  immber,  and  that  prec- 
edent has  ruled  ever  since. 

This,  then,  is  the  issue.  By  favoring 
license,  you  favor  the  dram-.shop,  and  to 
whatever  extent  the  profit  thereof  will 
warrant.  The  restrictions  whicii  the 
licen.'^e  law  V.ssays  to  put  about  the  I  raffle, 
are  found  to  be  difficult  of  enforcement, 
and,  so   far  as    any  fealty  of  the  (Jram- 


shop  itself    is  cD.icerned,    are    no    more 
than  a  deceiving  mockery. 

Therefore,  I  submit,  it  were  hardly 
worth  one's  while  to  indulge  the  fancy 
that  in  voting  for  license,  he  is  voting 
for  something  which  cannot  fairly  be 
likened  to  highway  robber}-  and  mur- 
der. License  in  Connecticut,  is  the 
dram-shop  at  every  corner;  and  the' 
dram-shop  in  worse  than  the  highway 
robbery  or  the  highway  murder!  Ab, 
ladies  and  gentlemen,  you  have  I)ut  to 
look  anew  and  for  one  moment,  to  real- 
ize that  I  am  not  speaking  unadvisedly: 
As  against  the  mere  robbery  which  it 
were  within  the  highwayman's  power 
to  inflict,  put  the  desolations  wliich  you 
know  to  be  wrought  by  the  drnm-shop 
traffic;  the  indolence,  the  waste,  the 
want,  the  unkindness,  the  brutality,  the 
licentiousness,  the  defiance  of  all  social, 
and  legal,  and  divine  restraints.  Put 
in  that  contrast,  the  hunger  and  naked- 
ness of  children;  the  tears  and  anguish 
of  wives  and  mothers;  the  shame,  and 
remorse,  and  blasphemy  of  the  stricken 
fathers  and  sons.  What  is  i-obbery  com- 
pared with  the  thing  which  works  such 
work  as  that?  Wrong  clone  to  the 
dram-shop  by  the  comparison v  Xo! 
One  should  rather  beg  pardon  of  the 
highwayman  for  bringing  his  compara- 
tively harmless  plundering,  into  a  com- 
panionship so  incomparahly  foul!  And 
as  against  the  highway  murder,  you 
have  but  to  put  the  second  death,  the 
loss  of  the  soul  it.self,  in  that  eternal 
world  tow^ard  which  we  all  are  hasten- 
ing! 

Let  us  not  cajole  ourselv^es  into  think- 
ing that  our  alternative  is  between  any-  < 
thing  other,  or  less  momentous,  than 
No-License  on  the  one  !side,  and  the  le- 
galized, destroying  dram-shop  mi  the  ■ 
other.  Let  us  not  conjure  up  some 
baseless  thing,  and   suppose  that  that  is 


wJjai  slaiids  as  Uh^ possible    and    Iiaini 
less  alternate.    ■  •  , 

i  have  SMwl  thai,  «>n  the  one  hand,  li- 
ceose  moans  Jhcvlram-shop  with  all  its 
horrors.  I .  pray  j'ou  to  note,  on  the 
other  hand,  a:  coujiideration  which  re- 
veals, and  in  which  eon.sists.  an  added 
baseness  on  the.  pari  of  that  same  li- 
cense. The  consideration  is  this,  that 
those  who,  under^  license,  keep  the 
drain-shops,  and  who  work  s>ich  woe, 
are5those  who  habituall}-  trample  on  tlie 
veiy  law  whose  protection  thej'  invoke, 
and  who,  even  thus,  belie  all  their 
asserted  regard  for  tlie  public  will.  Did 
thosejengaged  in  the  dram-shop  traffic 
say|openIy|that  their  advocacy  of  license 
was  for  purely  selfisli  ends;  and  that 
wlien  they  had  secured  the  law,  thoy 
intended  to  violate  it  to  ever}-  practica- 
ble extent,  that  so  they  might  further 
gratify  their  greed;  that  would  some- 
what mitigate  th<'ir  sin.  That  would 
at  least  reHeve  them  of  hypocrisy,  con- 
corning  which  Montaigne  once  said,  "I 
mortally  hate  it ;  and  of  all  vices,  find 
none  tliat  does  evidence  so  mucli  base- 
ness and  meanness  of  spirit ." 

As  it  is  at  present,  they  discuss  meth- 
ods witli  us.  They  talk  of  the  common 
welfare.  They  claim  to  be  within  the 
pale  of  good  faith,  and  to  be  deserving 
of  a  place  in  the  body  politic.  They 
profess  to  regard  it  asan  injustice.when 
they  are  ranked  with  desperadoes  and 
villains! 

Yet  look  again  at  the  facts.  The  sup- 
porters of  the  dram-shop  not  only 
break  the  law  under  cover  of  which  they 
have  an  authorized  existence,  but  they 
appear  as  full  citizens,  and  enter  into  the 
covenant  which  is  involved  in  the  fran- 
chise! Thej-  move  in  society,  and  take 
the  sacred  ballot  as  their  means  of  vic- 
tory. They  not  onh'  persistently  evade 
and  defy  all  the  restrictive  provisions 
of  license,  and  lift  nohand  against  those 


who  secretly  d<»  business  in  in)o.\icating 
li(juors  without  so  much  as  the  form  of 
license,  tiiey  also  claim  Ihehiglu.'-t  pre- 
rogative within  the  social,  political  com- 
pact. They  lay  their  unclean  hands  on 
the  very  ark  of  our  hope,  and  turn  it  into 
an  engine  of  sm  and  death.  They  come 
up  from  the  dei)ths  of  their  desperate 
traffic,  and  arm  themselves  with  the 
armor  of  light.  They  thus  make  war 
upon  the  safety  and  practical  value  of 
popular  government  itself.  Their'-!  is 
treason  against  the  fundamental  right  of 
every  man  who  casts  his  ballot  in  good 
faith.  Their  hypocrisy  and  treachery 
lend  the  greater  infamy  to  their  destruct- 
ive coxuse. 

Good  friends,  when  you  take  those 
considerations  into  account,  areyou  not 
compelled  to  say  of  license,  even  as  of 
highway  rapine  and  murder,  that  you 
mu.st  oppo.se  it,  whether  you  succeed  or 
not?  Is  it  not,  practicall}',  one  of  those 
supreme  offences  which  must  be  antag- 
onized? Is  there,  in  reason,  any  option 
for  usV  Does  not  the  issue  transcend 
a'l  mention  of  the  .statistical  results  se- 
cured by  No-License,  and  demand  of  us 
an  absolute,  unchangeable  opposilon  to 
license? 

I  have  listened,  indeed,  to  the  talk 
about  its  being  no  sin  pert^c  to  drink  and 
sell,  under  certain  circumstances  and 
due  cautions,  the  intoxicating  beverages. 
I  have  heard  it  affirmed  that  the  "high 
moral  argument''  is  sometimes  inapplic- 
able, and  that  the  case  is  to  be  wholly  de- 
cided in  the  forum  of  experiment.  They 
have  zealously  assured  us  that  a  direct 
coranarison  of  results,  is  the  only 
proper  direction  in  which  to  turn  our 
thoughts.  But  such  statements  are  as 
as  wide  of  the  real,  urgent  question  be- 
fore this  municipalit}'.  as  would  be  re- 
finements of  logic  and  analysis,  with 
regard  to  the  pos.sible  right  of  tlie  per- 
ishing to  save  themselves  liy  taking  what 


wiis  no)  tlioir  dwii,  or  llic  rii:Jil  of  l lie 
as.wiuiltcd  to'  take  tlir  life  of  u  dciully  iu;- 
sailant,  when  till'  actual  issue  was  re- 
speotintr  highway  i-obbei y  and  niuider! 
License  in  Norwich,  in  New  London, in 
Connecticut,  means  the  dram-shop  in  its 
usual  character,  and  against  that  we  are 
morality,  religiously  bound  to  (contend 
utterly,  unless  we  have  ceased  to  fear 
God  or  to  regard  man.  Though  the  is- 
sue had  been  originally  one  of  practical 
results  alone,  yet  has  time  shown  that 
the  results  of  licmse,  of  tlie  dram-shops, 
are  always  so  shameful,  so  deadly,  that 
the  issue  becomes,  at  last,  an  issue  of 
absolute  morality  and  absolute  right. 
From  that  point  on,  there  is  essentially 
no  rightful  choice.  In  reality,  you  do 
not  need  to  compare  results.  You 
know,  in  advance,,  that  the  true  path 
is  the  path  of  the  opposition ! 

And  now  I  point  out  to  you  still 
another  consideration  which  properly 
precedes  the  enumeration  of  specific  re- 
sults. It  is  involved  in  what  I  have  al- 
ready said,  yet  it  deserves  this  further 
notice.  You  hear  of  a  comparison  of  the 
workings  of  license  and  No-Liccnsc. 
And  one  who  did  not  know  the  condi- 
dition  of  t'jings,  might  suppose  tliat  the 
two  methods  were  subjected  to  the  same 
equitable  test.  He  might  infer  thai 
when  the  one  course  or  the  other  was 
adopted  by  the  choice  of  the  people,  at 
the  ballot-box,  it  was  permitted  to  have 
its  essentially  unhindered  application. 
Would  not  a  "comparison  of  results" 
imply  that?  Ought  not  that  to  be  the 
fact? 

But  what  is  the  actual  condition  of 
things,  in  this  municipality  and  in  this 
State?  Is  it  that  of  a  fair,  equitable 
teat?  Oh  no!  The  condition  is  this. 
Whenever  license  is  to  be  adopted  or 
rejected  at  the  polls,  its  opponents  op- 
pose it  by  only  legitimate  means.  They 
invariably  lienor  the  sacredness  ot  the 


franchise  irnd  llic  oliliualiniis  of  tiood 
faith.  And  even  when  the  law  of  license 
has  been  adopted  agai/>l  tlicir  honest 
effort,  they  still  labor  eaiiicstly  to  make 
its  practical  success  as  liicat  as  possible. 
Thej'  endeavor  lo  enforce  il>  provisions. 
They  seek  to  maintain  its  safeguards. 
They  are  active  in  the  al tempt  to  i)re- 
vent  the  lawless  from  brinuing  it  into 
discredit  by  its  violation.  They  try, 
under  it.  to  restrain  drunkenness  and  to 
hinder  crime.  I  appeal  to-night  and  in 
this  presence,  for  the  corr(<boration  of 
my  words.  Has  not  that  been  the  ease, 
fellow-citizens,  from  the  hour  that  Lo- 
cal Option  became  the  policy  of  the 
Slate?  Has  not  that  been  ilie  eninse  of 
tlie  most  earnest  No-License  men,  in  all 
the  years  of  the  conflict?  Is  not  that 
the  action  to  which  they  feel  bound  b^' 
their  own  fealty  to  God  nnd  man? 

And  yet,  what  is  the  fact  respecling 
the  reverse  case?  How  is  it,  when  No- 
License  is  likel}'  to  win  at  the  polls? 
And  how  is  it, when  it  has  fairly  gained 
the  victory  there?  You  know,  to 
your  sorrow.  You  know  that  in  such 
an  cmcrgcncj'  at  the  polls,the  rum-inter- 
est, the  distinctively  license  interest. 
stops  at  no  unfairness  of  mctliod.  Its 
champions  make  into.xication  itself,  and 
bribery,  and  falsehood,  and  virtual  in- 
timidation, the  weapons  of  their  war- 
fare. I  am  not  slanilering  lluni.  I  am 
not  talking  at  random.  I  am  simply 
stating  what,  a  year  ago,  and  at  elections 
preceding,  was  seen  to  be,  was  known 
to  be,  the  fact;  what  was  done  in  Nor- 
wich and  New  London,  and  in  the  coun- 
try towns,  under  the  flag,  and  in  the 
light  of  day ! 

Yes,  and  since  the  election  of  Octo- 
ber, 1878,  whicli  was  carried  for  No-Li- 
cense, in  spite  of  such  opposition,  what 
has  been  tlie  attitude  of  the  friends  of 
the  rum-traffic?  Have  they  endeavored 
to  make  No-License  a  success?     Have 


they  reciprocated  the  former  action  of 
Temperance  men,  and  aimed  to  give  ef- 
ficiency to  the  statute  wliich  was  fairly 
secured  at  the  polls?  Have  they  even 
been  neutral,  and  permitted  the  unhind- 
ered movement  of  that  to  which  they 
were,  at  least,  bound  to  submit?  You 
know  the  answer.  It  seems  almost  pre- 
posterous to  ask  the  questions.  You 
know  that  from  that  day  to  this,the  rum- 
interest  of  Norwich  ana  New  London, 
with  no  known  exception,  has  set  itself 
against  the  execution  of  the  No-License 
law.  Though,  as  voting  citizens,  they 
virtually  covenanted  to  obey  it,  in  case 
it  was  adopted,  they  have  sought  to 
trample  it  under  their  feet.  By  day  and 
by  night;  through  the  week  of  labor  and 
the  Sunday  of  rest;  by  stealth  and  fraud; 
by  boldness  and  bravado;  by  their  press 
and  their  lawyers;  by  their  money  and 
their  influence;  they  have  attempted  the 
defeat  of  No-License,  in  its  practical 
working.  They  have  even  boasted  of 
their  faithlessness  and  crime;  for  they 
have  whispered  it  in  the  ear,  and  shout- 
ed it  on  the  house-tops,  that  the  sales  of 
spirituous  liquors  as  a  beverage,  have 
not  been  much  diminished  under  No- 
License.  As  if  they  were  oblivious  to 
all  considerations  of  honor,  they  have 
unceasingly,  mercilessly,  fought  against 
the  success  of  the  measure  whose  un- 
hindered application,  in  case  it  was  car- 
ried, was  impliedly  guarantied  by  them 
at  the  ballot-box. 

And  under  such  circumstances, we  are 
told,  with  coolness,  that  it  is  not  for  us 
to  claim  for  No-License,  any  worth 
which  is  not  substantiated  bv  the  com- 
parative statistics!  When  the  friends 
of  No-License,the  most  earnest  workers 
for  Temperance,  have  wrought  whole- 
heartedly for  the  public  sobriety  and 
well-being,  under  license;  and  have  de- 
fend.'d  the  public  welfare,  unrier  No- 
License,    aguiiuiit  tlie    unrelenting,    un- 


scrupulous attacks  of  that  inierest  which 
is  never  regardful  of  law;  they  are  rci 
minded  that  they  deserve  to  stand  or- 
fall,  and  their  law  to  be  retained  or  re- 
jected, according  to  the  mere  sums-total 
which  they  may  be  able  to  show  as  their 
net  gain!  What  an  essential  unfairnessi 
Aye,  how  profound,  how  fearful,  the 
underlying  evil  which,  in  the  anguish 
of  our  protest,  we  thus  point  out! 

As  I  have  said  before,  and  as  I  reiter- 
ate to-night,  the  case  so  stands  in  these 
communities,  that  the  plea  to  be  made 
is  not  simply  in  behalf  of  Temperance, 
and  of  No-License  as  promoting  Tem- 
perance. It  is  also,  and  even  more  fun- 
damentally, in  behalf  of  law  as  law,and 
of  the  lawfully,  solemnly  expressed  will 
of  the  people  as  something  more  than  a 
farce.  Why  is  it,  1  wonder,  that  these 
prevailingly  Christian,  law-honoring 
communities  tolerate,  in  respect  to 
Temperance  laws,  a  persistent  lawless- 
ness whicli,  in  any  otiier  matter,  would 
be  deemed  unendurable? 

Suppose  that  there  was  a  division  of 
jtreference  in  this  city,  as  to  the  relatiom 
of  law  to  public  education.  Suppose 
that  the  greed  of  many,  their  unwilling- 
ness to  be  taxed  for  the  support  of  the 
public  schools,  should  lead  them  to  op- 
pose the  whole  plan;  should  lead  them 
to  pronounce  in  favor  of  leaving  each 
parent  to  educate  his  own  children,  or 
not,  as  he  pleased.  And  suppose  that 
in  due  time,  and  in  due  manner,  the 
public  will  expressed  itself  at  the  polls, 
in  favor  of  general  taxation  for  schools, 
and  compulsory  attendance.  Suppose, 
however,  that  thereafter  the  opponents 
of  the  plan  thus  adopted,  should  indi- 
vidually, and  by  combination,  attempt 
to  thwart  it.  Should  secrete  their  own 
children, and  tempt  others  into  truancy; 
should  plan  evasions  and  resort  to  false- 
hood: should  virtually  resist  the  law, 
and    boast  that  they  had    prevented  its 


proposed  working.  WuuliJ;  you.  lose 
faith  in  the  excellence  of.the  law  itself? 
Would  you,  indeed,  quietly  admit  tliat 
it  was  only  a  question  of  education,  to 
be  decided  by  comparative  results  in 
this  given  community?  No,  no,  fellow- 
citizens!  You  would  say,  "The  issue 
transcends  even  that  It  has  become  the 
question  of  respect  for  law  fairly  enact- 
ed. It  is  the  question  of  the  existence 
of  society  and  real  government."  And 
then  you  would  say,  further,  "We  pro- 
pose to  have  that  greater  question  set- 
tled, and  settled  first."  You  would 
swear  by  the  sacredness  of  decency  and 
right  that,  in  some  way,  the  lawlessness 
should  be  made  to  cease.  By  an  aroused ; 
public  opinion;  by  a  re-enforcement  of 
both  the  statute  and  its  execution;  you 
would  oblige  the  defiance  of  the  law,  in 
the  main  at  least,  to  come  to  an  end. 
You  would  declare  that  that  was  the 
condition  precedent, on  which  alone  any 
fair  test  of  educational  measures  could 
be  made. 

Well,  then,  say  the  same,  I  pray  you, 
with  reference  to  this  issue  of  Temper- 
ance legislation.  Say  that  when  a  law 
is  adopted  by  the  people  themselves, 
after  full  discussion,  and  in  the  pre- 
scribed way,  it  shall  be  prevalently  ex- 
ecuted; even  though  it  require  every 
third  man  to  be  enrolled  as  police,  or 
the  calling  out  of  the  whole  body  of 
citizens.at  summons  of  the  Mayor.  Say 
that  when  that  end  has  been  secured, you 
shall  have  your  first  opportunity  for  a 
fair  trial  of  the  merits  of  No-License. 

Friends,  the  supporters  of  No-License 
are  law-abiding  people.  Whether  they 
win  or  lo.^e  at  the  polls,  they  work  for 
the  observance  of  statutes  and  the  secur- 
ing of  the  public  good.  Contrariwi.se, 
the  niost  active  supporttM's  of  licL-nse  are 
prevailingly  law-breakers,  especially 
when  the  will  of  tiie  people  is  against 
tUeir  dram-shops.     Let   then, 'the  con 


testantsUiein  selves,  as  well  a»  th*!  ?5pi?n 
cific  results,,  be'  judged,  in  ^  tliat,  lightv; 
Take  your  owfii  stand nccoidingly.     .,■; . 

And  th'M'e  is  yet  anotlier  reflection 
wnich  should  bo  borne  in  mind,  as  we 
approach  the  recorded  results.  I.t  is 
tiiis,  and  this  empliasi-zed  l)y  what  has 
gone  before,  viz:  that  the  single  year, 
or  more  exactly  ten  months,  which  has 
elapsed  since  the  passage  of  No-License, 
is  not  sufficient  time  for  a  proper  percep- 
tion of  what  No-'jicense  will  do.  Li- 
cense has  held  the  field  during  a  vastly 
longer  period.  It  lias  had  its  extended 
trial.  Those  who  voted  against  it,  have 
given  its  provisions  their  adhesion  and 
support.  Fellow-citizens, let  No-License 
have  similar  trial,  for  then'  are  reasons 
manifold,  why  its  results  may  be  expect- 
ed to  become  even  more  .^Htisfactory,  as 
the  years  go  by.  Look,  for  instance,  at 
tills  one  fact.  Last  year.  No  License 
was  carried  in  the  cities,  by  a  majority 
so  slight  as  to  lead  the  dram-shops  to 
suppose  that  they  might  reverse  the  de- 
cision, at  the  next  election.  Conse- 
quently, the  utmost  practicable  amount 
of  money  has  been  retained  in  the 
business.  The  utmost  risks  have  been 
taken,  in  the  effort  to  live  on  until  the 
day  of  release.  With  the  determina- 
tion which  naturally  belongs  to  one 
who  deems  himself  to  have  suffered 
only  a  passing  defeat,  the  rum-seller  has 
pursued  his  course.  The  whole  rum- 
interest  has  stood  alive,  alert,  waiting 
tor  its  return  to  power,  expectant  of  re- 
newed success.  Its  opposition,  there- 
fore, to  the  working  of  No-License,  has 
been  quick  and  powerful.  It  has  fed 
itself  with  the  thought  of  revenge. 

Put,  now,  the  matter  of  a  return  to 
license  beyond  the  probability  of  imme- 
diate reopening.  Say,  by  your  over- 
whelming vote,  that  you  intend  to  con- 
tiiiui'  the  existing  plan,  until  it  has  luid 
full  time  for  its  effects;   aud  especially, 


10 


until  the  sliamelc,ss,  law U;ssuss!iu!ts  upon 
it  by  the  runi-iiitciystjiiTc  I)r<nighl  to  an 
end.  Let  it  be  tlioroughl}^  understood 
that  tlie  reversal  of  the  decree  will  not 
be  made  at  present.  Have  you  tiny 
question  that  thus  tlie  whole  a^pect  and 
attitude  of  the  opposition  to  No-License, 
would  change?  Have  you  any  question 
that  that  opposition  would  become  far 
less  persistent  and  intense? 

Bear  in  mind,  too,  that  the  methods, 
the  evasions,  the  violations,  on  the  part 
of  the  drani-siiops,  are  lu'coming  more 
thoroughly  understood  by  the  friends 
of  sobriety,  and  by  the  police  and  Pros- 
ecuting Agents.  Nor  is  it  wide  of  the 
mark  to  suggest,  in  general,  that  if  the 
breaches  of  the  No  License  legislation, 
have  taken  a  form  which  was  not  con- 
templated, and  for  which  provision  was 
not  made,  the  legislation  can  be  amend- 
ed to  meet  the  ishue.  I  suppose  if  pos- 
sible to  make  law  keep  pace  with  the 
public  need! 

In  fine,  as  touching  the  extent,  the 
permanence  of  the  trial  of  No-License, 
let  it  be  unalterably  sustained  for  a  term 
of  years, — such  a  term  as  has  been  giyen 
to  license.  Let  the  whole  body  of  good 
citizens  so  signify  their  will  on  the 
sixth  of  October.  In  that  act,  as  in  the 
determination  that  lawlessness  shall 
cease  its  prevalence,  you  will  meet  one 
of  the  essential,  and  hitherto  unsupplied 
conditions  of  a  just,  reasonable  trial  of 
the  statute  against  the  dram-shops. 

And  now  we  come  to  the  results 
which  can  be  specifically  set  down, 
— results  drawn,  in  every  instance, 
from  the  ofl^cial  soiu'ces.  In  the 
overwhelming  support  whicli  they 
give  to  No-Kicense,  you  are  still  to  re- 
member the  fundamental  considerations 
which  I  have  urged.  You  are  to  reflect 
that  though  the  favorable  results  were 
far  less  computablw  and  far  less  deci- 
sive, you  would  be  Imund  to  oppose  the 


iicen.sed  dram-slni|i  You  are  to  recol- 
lect against  what  an  energy  and  inl'amy 
of  lawless  opposition,  No-L'eense  lia^ 
wroui^ht  its  work.  You  are  to  recog- 
Hize  the  truth  that  a  single  year,  under 
such  circumstances,  is  not  sufficient  for 
the  trial;  and  that  the  future  gives 
promise  of  still  greater  gains. 

Fellow-citizens,  in  addressing  ycu 
five  months  ago  on  the  Success  of  No- 
License,  I  first  gave  you  the  figures  re- 
lating to  the  total  arrests  for  drunken- 
ness in  Norwich  and  New  London, com- 
paring the  five  months  preceding  No- 
License, with  the  five  months  following. 
Those  figures  still  stand.  They  have 
not  been  gainsaid  by  so  much  as  a  unit. 
They  were  as  follows:  NorwicL,  under 
license,  161;  under  No-License,  58. 
New  London,  under  license,  280;  under 
No-License,  57.  Making  similar  com- 
parison for  the  other  half  of  the  ten 
months  which  have  now  paj-sed,  we 
have, — Norwich,  under  license,  126;  un- 
der No-License,  83.  New  London,  un- 
der license,  104;  under  No-License,  104. 
Or,  summing  up  the  arrests  for  drunk- 
enness, in  each  city,  for  the  ten  months 
preceding  No-License,  and  the  ten 
months  following,  we  have, — Norwich, 
under  license,  287;  under  No-License, 
141.  New  London,  under  license,  8a4; 
under  No-License,  161.  As  you  per- 
ceive, IN  EACH  CITY.  No-License  shows 

LESS  THAN  ONE-HALF  THE  ARRESTED 
OR,  IN  OTHER  WORDS,  THE  OBSERVABLE 

DRUNKENNESS.  And  that,  in  spite  of 
the  unjust  odds  under  which  No-License 
h«s  been  obliged  to  contend! 

Take  next,  as  before,  the  arrests  for 
all  crimes.  In  the  comparison  for  the 
first  five  months,  dating  each  way  from 
th«  commencement  of  No-License,  the 
record  stood, — Norwich,  under  license, 
414;  u  nder  No-License,  283.  New  Lon- 
don, under  license,  389;  under  No-Li- 
cense,  114.     For    the    succeeding  five 


11 


months,  the  record  stands, — Norwich, 
under  license  802;  under  No-LicenRe, 
(omitting  the  arrests  for  non-conipiiiince 
with  the  dog-law,  which  went  into  ef- 
fect May  1st,  1879)  268.  New  London, 
under  license,  256;  under  No-License, 
203.  Or,  summing  up  the  total  arrests 
for  crime,  in  each  city,  for  the  ten 
months  preceding  No-License,  and  the 
ten  months  following,  we  have, — Nor- 
wich, under  license,  716;  under  No-Li- 
cense, 546.  New  London,  under  license, 
645;  under  No-License,  317.  As  you 
perceive,  in  Norwich, less  than  four- 
fifths  'J  HE  CRIME  IN  GENERAL,  AND  IN 

New  London,  less  than  one-half. 
And  that,  in  spite  of  the  unjust  odds 
against  which  No-License  has  had  to 
contend! 

Take  next,  the  jails  of  New  London 
County.  Five  months  ago  the  statistics 
were, — Total  number  of  commitments, 
under  lice  use,  197;  under  No-License,  80. 
Since  that  reckoning,  we  have, —  under 
l:cense,  139;  under  No-License,  119. 
Committed  for  drunkenness, for  the  first 
period,  under  license,  87;  under  No-Li- 
cense, 27.  For  the  second  period,  under 
license.  47;  under  No-License,  35.  Or, 
summing  up  the  statistics  of  the  jails, 
for  the  ten  months  preceding  No-Li 
cense,  and  the  ten  months  following, 
we  have, — total  commitments  for  crime, 
undtr  license,  336;  under  No-Licen.se, 
199.  Total  commitments  for  diunken- 
ness,  under  license,  144;  under  No-Li- 
cense 62.  Average  of  jail  inmates,  un- 
der license,  46;  under  No-License,  26. 
As  yon  perceive,  less  than  two-thirds 

THE  total   COMMITMENIS    FOR    CRIME; 

less  than  one-hai-f  the  commitments 

FOR  DRtiNKENNEfiS;  AND  LESS  THAN 
three-fifths  THE  AVERAGE  OF  IN- 
MATES OF  JAIL.  And  that,  in  spite  of 
the  unjust  odds  against  which  No-Li- 
cense has  luen  obliged  to  contend! 
Though  we  were  to  abide,  simply  and 


solely  by  statistical  rosmlts,  what  nuist 
we  judge  coiicei  ning  the  I'ruits  of 
No-License?  What  jiuist  we  conclude 
concerning  the  law  which  single-hand- 
ed, and  against  such  trcnicudous  and 
criminal  opposition,  has  won  ^uch  a 
triumph!  The  law  which  lias  lit 
erally  plucked  its  victory  out  of  the 
very  jaws  of  the  enemy!  The  law 
which  lias  reduced  dninkenness  to 
less  than  one-half,  and  crime  in 
general  to  less  than  two-thirds!  The 
Ir.w  which  has  avcH  nigh  half  ilepopuhi- 
ted  our  jails,  and  given  added  safety  to 
both  property  and  person! 

Does  the  street  say  that  such  a  law  is 
to  be  repealed,  in  these  cities,  before  the 
ides  of  October?  Does  the  iniii-seller 
declare  that  that  statute  is  to  be  swept 
from  the  book  in  this  ciilighlcnctl, 
Christian  community?  Does  ihc  diani 
shop  proclaim,  with  insolent  assurance. 
that  the  good  men  of  this  town  are  to 
help  it  in  regaining  its  fctnner  destructive 
power?  It  must  be  false.  The  claim 
is  preposterous.  It  is  morall)  impossi- 
ble that  such  should  be  the  vcidict  in 
Norwich  and  New  London.  The  Rose 
of  New  England  will  not  so  (liiniiiisji 
her  glory,  and  the  fair  Cily  by  llic  Sea 
will  not  so  dim  her  lustre! 

And  here,  good  friends,  1  ask  your  at- 
tention to  certain  very  significant  infer- 
ences, to  be  drawn  from  within  the  re- 
sults which  I  have  laid  before  you.  They 
are  too  important  to  be  overlooked.  For 
example,  you  may  have  noticed  that  in 
Norwich  there  was  an  increase  of  di  unk- 
enness  during  the  last  five  luonths  of 
No-License,  as  compared  with,  its  first 
five  months.  You  may  have  noted  that 
in  New  London,  thejeported  dninken- 
ness was  104  in  the  last  five  months,  as 
compared  with  the  57,  in  the  five  months 
preceding.  D:d  you  somewhat  won- 
der at  the  change?  It  is  wholly  expli- 
cable.    It  is  vastly   expressive.     It  be- 


12 


hooves  you  to  treasure  (he  cfmclusion  tfl 
which  it  points. 

You  will  remember  that  in  April  and 
May  there  was  currently  reported  a 
marked  increase  in  the  saleot  the  so-call- 
ed non-intoxicatini^  beers.  The  attention 
of  the  Prosecutinij,  Agents  was  drawn  to 
the  fact.  Pro.secutions  were  instituted 
and  seizures  made.  In  the  test  cjises, 
however,  which  were  tried  in  June,  the 
State  was  defeated.  The  dealers  denied 
that  the  beers  were  intoxicating.  They 
brought  witnesses  to  testify  that  they 
were  quite  harmless, — one  citizen  of 
Norwich  alleging  that  in  a  comparative- 
ly brief  time,  he  had  drunk  twenty 
glasses  without  ill  effects!  The  former 
rum-sellers  declared,  privatel}'  and  on 
oath,  that  all  they  sold,  or  proposed  to 
sell.  Wiis  the  non-intoxicating  drinks. 
Well,  see  in  the  light  of  the  past  nve 
months  how  much  that  declaration 
was  worth.  Infer  how  much  the  decla- 
rations of  tho-ic  in  the  dram-shops  are 
ever  worth!     Coincidkntly  with  the 

SCHKXCK  liKKK  I>KCISI0\S  WHICH  PUT 
THE  SHIEl-O  OK  LICENSE  OVEK  THE  SO- 
C.\I-LKI)  NOX-INTOXICAXTS,  TIIEKK  WAS 
A  «UEAT  .VND    SUSTAINED    INCUEASE    IN 

DRUNKENNESS.  In  N<)rwi('h,  drunken- 
ness increased  nearly'  one-half,  and  in 
New  London  it  was  nearly  doubled,  in 
Norwich,  at  the  time  of  the  special  beer 
excitement,  the  monthly  average  of  ob- 
served drunkenness  was  less  than  12. 
Since  then,  the  average  has  been  nearly 
17,  the  number  in  a  single  month  going 
as  high  as  33.  In'Ncw  London,  the 
previous  average  was  scarcely  more 
than  11.  Since  that  timj  it  has  been 
upwards  of  20. 

Now  what  does  all  that  go  to  show, 
fellow-citizens?  Either  that  the  so- 
called  non-intoxicating  beers  are  jin  re- 
ality intoxicating.lor  that  the  whole 
l)ejr  traffic  is  but  a  guise  for  the  sale  of 
the  usual  spirituous  lirjuors!     The   con 


elusion  is  unavoidable;  and,  in  either 
case,  the  keepers  of  the  saloons  are  con- 
victed of  disloyalty  to  truth,  and  crime 
against  the  public  welfare.  They  them- 
selves have  thus  given  lis  a  timely 
warning!  It  is  really  safer  for  the  good, 
when  evil  appears  in  its  true  character. 
As  Shakespeare  wrote: — 

'•If  danin'd  commotion  so  appeared. 

In  his  true,  native,  and  most  proper  shape. 

You,  reverend  fathers,  and  these   noble  lords. 

Had  not  been  tliere.  to  dress  the  ugly  form 

Of  base  and  bloodj-  insurrection, 

With  your  fair  honours." 

Had  there  been  no  such  outburst  of 
falsehood  and  crime,  some  might  have 
'jeen  beguiled  into  thinking  that,  after 
all,  the  runi-intere.st  meant  to  respect 
good  faith  and  the  intent  of  law.  It 
might  have  been  supposed  that,  even 
though  the  restraints  should  be  relaxed, 
no  s|)ecial  harm  would  ensue.  But  now, 
even  the  blindest  are  forced  to  see  that 
there  is  no  safety  for  the  publicsave  by 
laying  its  inexorable  hand  on  the  very 
throat  of  the  rum-interest.  It  must  be 
strangled  out  and  out.  Evidently,  that 
is  the  necessity  now,  just  as  in  times 
pa«t.  Rather  than  look  toward  the  re- 
peal of  No-License  in  tlie.se  cities,  we 
must  look  toward  its  receiving  a  further 
adaptation  to  the  emergency,  at  the 
hands  of  the  Legislature! 

And  that  reminds  me  that  there  is  a 
rumor  afloat  with  regard  to  the  rise  of 
club-rooms,  as  an  evasion  of  No-License . 
Somebody  hints  that  they  are  places 
where  debauchery  is  rife,  and  where 
the  evils  of  the  open  dram-shop  are  sur- 
passed. But  what  is  there  to  indicate 
ity  The  police  records  don't  yet  saj-  so. 
The  sums-total  ot  crime  and  drunken- 
ness don't  really  make  it  probable.  If 
the  information  comes  from  any  respon- 
sible source,  at  present,  it  would  seem 
it  must  come  from  the  freijuenters  of 
the  club-rooms!  But  do  they  mean  to 
tell  us  that  such  is  the   nature   of  their 


IS 


organizations y  If  tliey  do  so  tell  us,  •!• 
if  from  any  other  aulhcntu!  soiuco,  thut 
fact  is  substantinted,  tliey  will  tind  that 
the  remedy,  as  iu  the  preceding  case, 
will  lie,  not  in  the  direction  of  giving 
np  the  No-License  which  they  thus 
evade,  but  in  amending  it  so  as  to  be 
applicable  to  their  summary  dispersion 
and  punishment.  jMeantune.agood  law 
is  not  to  be  held  responsible  for  evasions 
of  it,  either  alleged  or  real. 

On  tlie  occasion  of  the  former  address, 
fellow  citizens,  I  made  answer  to  cer- 
tain assertions  of  the  rum-interest,  re- 
specting the  financial  relations  between 
No-License  and  its  opposite.  I  averred 
then,  however,  as  I  emphatically  aver 
now,  (hat  such  considerations  come  not 
near  the  prime  merits  of  the  case.  In 
one  sense,  they  do  not  deserve  mention. 
In  one  view,  I  feel  like  craving  your 
pardon  for  the  bringing  forward  of 
such  concerns.  To  give  them  special 
moment,  were  alike  beneath  tlie  great- 
ness of  the  issue  itself,  and  the  dictates 
of  citizeusliip  and  wisdom.  If  direct 
financial  advantajie  attends  the  steps  of 
righteousness,  it  may  be  proper  to  cite 
the  fact.  It  is  incidentally  an  encour- 
agement. But  that  is  not  fundamental. 
The  righteous,  the  beneficent  thing 
should  be  done,  whether  immediate 
monetaiy  gain  Ije  on  this  side  or  on  that. 
The  priceless,  supreme  interests  of  hu- 
manity are  not  to  be  sold  in  the  sliam- 
bles.  You  suffer  a  blow  to  be  struck 
at  society,  and  government,  and  right 
itself,  when  you  are  betrayed  into  such 
a  thought. 

And  yet,  in  the  unprincipled  assault 
to  which  No-License  has  been  con- 
stantly subjected,  it  has  been  cast  at  us 
that  the  city's  resources  lack  the  thou- 
sands of  dollars  which  the  former  li- 
cense-fees afforded,  and  that  there  is  no 
consideral)l('  offset.  I  say  again,  thai 
it  were  well,  even  then,  that  the  money 


previously  received  from  licence?-, should 
be  given  up,  for  tiie  sake  of  the  sobrie- 
ty, and  good  order,  aiul  comfort,  and 
personal  reformation  which  has  result- 
ed. 

There  is,  however,  in  i)art,  a  financial 
recompense  tor  tiie  unhallowed  gains 
surrendered.  Tiie  jiro.seculions  of  all 
violations  of  No-License  have  liieni 
selves  brought,  in  the  aggregate,  a  sur- 
plus to  the  city  treasury.  I  fiml.  from 
examination  of  the  account  for  the  (iscal 
year  ending  September  Isi,  as  rendered 
by  the  Norwich  Board  of  Selectmen, 
— the  same  noble  Board  which  iieid 
office  last  year, — that  the  expenses  of 
the  Town  for  the  outside  and  alms- 
house poor,  are  |7,(iG4.7G,  less  in 
1879  than  in  1878.  You  can  judge 
whether  that  would  have  been  so,  in 
the  ab.sence  of  No-License.  Do  you 
think  tliat  even  the  superb  ability  of 
the  Board,  wouhl  have  eomiiassed  tliul 
result,  with  the  liquor-saloons  in  tlieir 
former  activity  V 

Tlie  expenses  for  the  i)ooi'  iu  >sew 
London,  1  have  been  unable   to  oiUaiu. 

It  further  appears  tliat  to  tlie  County  of 
Nevv  London, there  iias  iirobalily  l)een  a 
saving,  in  the  jail  expenses,  of  upuards 
of  ^2,0U0.  Doubtless,  to  the  State  there 
has  been  expen.se  in  excess  of  receijils, 
but  of  that,  I  venture  tlie  State  tloes  not 
complain.  It  is  no  nu^re  than  belongs 
to  lier  whole  function  of  combating 
crime.  And  for  even  that,  the  law- 
breakers, and  not  the  law,  are  to  l;e 
held  accountable! 

Thus  does  even  the  nuuiey  i|uestion 
which,  at  most,  is  as  nothing,  wlien 
compared  with  the  maintenance  of  law 
and  the  public  well-being,  wear  a  very 
different  aspect  from  that  portrayed  Ijy 
the  ijatrons  of  the  dram-shops.  The 
financial  offsets  attest  the  yet  higher 
l)enefits,  and  lend  emph.isis  to  the  more 
essential  gains. 


14 


All,  fclknv-cUi/tns,  I  wish  it  weie 
within  my  power  to  show  you  (hose 
advantages  of  No-License  -which  are 
beyond  the  compass  of  figures  I  Tlie 
weak  soids  succored  in  their  mortal 
struggles;  the  guilty  souls  given  van- 
tage ground  on  which  to  stand,  in  the 
consideration  and  preference  of  a  holy 
life;  the  young  men  stayed  in  their  ru- 
inous course;  the  families  where  drunk- 
en brutality  reigned,  made  peaceful 
and  safe;  the  almost  naked  clothed, 
and  the  almost  starving  fed;  the  bro- 
ken-hearted mother  made  to  rejoice, 
and  the  sorrowing  wife  restored  to  her 
cheer;  they  who  were  in  the  path  to 
eternal  death,  led  to  the  salvation  which 
is  the  gift  of  Christ.  All  that  has  been 
favored,  and  rendered  the  more  prac- 
ticable, by  No-License.  All  the  moral 
and  spiritual  forces  have  been  aided  by 
the  decree  against  the  dram-shops. 
The  actual  sources  of  temptation  have 
been  restrained,  lessened.  As  in  a 
clearer  light,  and  with  the  more  ade- 
quate support,  the  friends  of  God  and 
humanity  have  wrought.  Will  you 
permit  the  beneficent  statute  to  be  re- 
pealed? 

Yet  I  have  heard  it  suggested  that  the 
unquestionably  good  results  which 
have  been  reached  under  No-License, 
may  not  be  justly  cited  as  wholly  its  due. 
It  has  been  questioned  whether  they 
ought  not,  in  strictness,  to  be  assigned 
to  the  faithfulness  of  individual  Tem- 
perance workers.  But  the  suggestion 
and  the  questioning  lack  force.  The 
issue  now  before  the  people,  in  large 
part,  is  a  comparative  one.  It  is  made 
the  issue,  of  whether  the  comparison 
between  license  and  No-License,  shows 
a  gain  for  the  latter.  To  that  issue, 
that  comparison,  the  reference  to  the 
fidelity  of  Temperance  workers  has  no 
pertinence.  For,  as  I  have  shown,  all 
such  workers  wrought  as  unremittingly 


and  as  devotedly,  under  license,  as  un- 
der No-Lice n^e.  Their  tfforts  are  a 
constant  factor.  I  will  even  venture  to 
affirm  that  they  mad(>  greater  effort  when 
the  dram-shop  was  licensed,  than  since 
it  has  been  legally  forbidden.  The  need 
of  effort  was  more  imperative;  the  prev- 
alent ruin  was  more  appalMng.  Ask 
him  who,  beyond  all  others,  is  the 
leader,  the  hero  of  the  res(;ue,  and  he 
will  tell  you  that,  owing  to  later  ex- 
haustion and  ill-health,  his  labors  were 
most  abundant  when  licence  was  the 
rule  of  the  city. 

No!  Barring  certain  incidental  ad- 
vantages which  may  be  credited  to  the 
partial  revival  of  business  in  general, 
the  changed  aspect  of  things  is  due  to 
No  License,  and  to  that  alone.  For 
the  most  part,  every  o*her  force  in  the 
community  has  remained  unchanged. 
The  repressive  statute  was  adopted, and 
in  spite  of  the  bitterness,  the  lawless- 
ness of  the  opposition  to  it,  it  has  ac- 
complished what  we  have  mentioned. 
Never  was  an  effect  more  closely,  more 
manifestly,  bound  to  its  cause,  than  the 
advance  of  the  public  welfare  is  bound 
to  the  No-License  statute.  In  its  en- 
forcement lies  the  wondcr-w  orking  pow- 
er. And  of  that  we  have  an  added  evi- 
dence, in  the  fact  that  against  the  No- 
License  statute,  the  rum-interest  of  tiie 
city  sets  itself,  as  one  man.  That  alone 
were  enough  to  show  us  our  true 
course! 

And  now,  fellow-citizens,  I  must 
close.  I  confess  that  I  see  noi  how 
there  can  be  the  reversal  at  the  polls,  of 
the  verdict  of  last  year. 

When  you  look  at  the  considerations 
which  are  more  supieme  than  even  the 
tabulated,  proved  results,  they  are  seen 
to  be  on  the  side  of  No-License.  The  is- 
.^ue  is,  most  profoundly,  one  of  the 
maintenance  of  righteous  law,  as  law. 
It  is  between  you,  as  law-abiding  citi- 


J5 


zens,  and  those  wlio  habitually  violate 
the  law  relating  to  the  rum-traffic,  even 
though  it  be  the  law  of  their  choice.  It 
is  between  you,  as  voters,  and  those 
who,  entering  into  sacred  covenant  with 
you  at  the  polls,  seek  to  trample  the  will 
of  the  people  under  their  very  feet,  if  it 
be  against  their  destructive  traffic.  It 
is,  f.)r  the  most  part,  between  you,  and 
the  keepers  and  patrons  of  tlie  liquor- 
saloons.  Not  simply  between  No-Li- 
cense, and  license  rigorously  restricted 
and  obeyed  by  those  who  invoke  it,  but 
between  No-License,  and  the  legalized, 
manifold,  accursed  dram-shop.  It  is 
between  you,  and  those  who,  having 
been  aided  by  Temperance  men  in  the 
genume  application  of  license,  oppose 
the  working  of  No-License  by  every  un- 
holy means  within  their  reach. 

Surely  I  am  right,  therefore,  in  say- 
ing that  the  considerations  which  are 
most  utterly  supreme,  considerations 
which  admit  of  no  alternative,  are  on 
the  side  of  No-License. 

On  that  side,  too,  are  the  observed  re- 
sults. Though  the  opposition  encoun- 
tered has  been  so  extreme,  and  though 
the  time  has  been  inadequate,  the  re- 
turns show  an  overwhelming  gain  on 
the  part  of  No-License.  Ckimb  in  gen- 
eral HAS  BEEN  REDUCED  TO  TWO- 
THIRDS;  OBSERVED  DRUNKENNESS  TO 
LESS  THAN  ONE-HALF.  TlIE  JAILS  HAVE 
BEEN  ALMOST  HALF  DEPOPULATED.    The 

expenses  for  both  the  outside  and  the 
alms-house  poor,  have  been  greatly  re- 
duced, and  there  has  been  a  general  ad- 
vance in  the  public  well-being.  That 
the  results  have  not  been  still  more  fa- 
vorable.— the  last  live  months  even  sur- 
passing the  earlier — has  been  because  the 
rum-sellers  have  violated  both  truth  and 
statute,  either  by  selling  intoxicating 
beers  and  claiming  them  to  be  non-in- 
toxicating,  or  by  making  the   sale  of 


beer  the  mere  cover  for  the   customary 
spirituous  liquors. 

Tiie  results  bespeak  the  maintenance 
of  No-License  for  the  years  to  come. 

As  against  the  possiljilily  of  :i  deci- 
sion of  the  peoi)Ie  adverse  to  No-License, 
there  rises  to  my  lips  the  prayer  of 
Goethe, — "God  lijip  us,  and  enligliteu 
us  for  the  future;  thai  we  may  not  so 
much  stand  in  our  own  way,  but  may 
have  clear  notions  of  the  consequences 
of  things."  As  against  that  possibility, 
I  remember  the  woe  wiiich  we  are  com- 
bating, and  recall  the  impassioned 
words  of  Edward  Irving,  as  he  bewailed 
a  similar  evil, — "Thou  knowest  the  ser- 
pent cunning  of  lliis  thing.  It  is  killing 
our  children;  it  has  already  slain  its  tens 
of  thousands;  this  eUy  is  sick  unto 
death,  and  dying  of  the  mortal  wounds 
which  she  hath  received  from  it."  As 
against  it,  I  invoke  the  sentiment  of 
the  Right  Honorable  Mr.  Glad- 
stone,— "A  Government  should  so  leg- 
islate, as  to  make  it  easy  to  do  right, 
and  difficult  to  do  wrong."  As  against 
it,  I  put  the  declaration  of  Cardi- 
nal Manning, — "I  look  upon  the  pro 
hibition  of  the  dram-shoj),  as  no  more 
than  the  exercise  of  the  legal  right  and 
power  of  the  people  to  protect  them- 
selves." As  against  it,  I  bespeak  the 
merciful  favor  of  Heaven,  and  the  sym- 
pathizing pity  of  every  human  heart. 

I  have  confidence  in  the  wisdom  and 
virtue  of  the  people.  We  may  say  Avith 
hopeful  Laniariine, — "I  place  my  bark 
on  the  highest  promontory  of  the  beach, 
and  trust  the  rising  of  the  tide  to  make  it 
float."  We  may  say  with  Wesley, — 
"The  best  of  all  is,  God  is  with  us." 
We  may  trust  tiiat  all  the  good  will 
rouse  themselves  for  the  conflict  and 
the  triumph.  We  will  invite  the  friends 
of  Temperance  to  overlook  their  minor 
ai.sagreements,     and     make     common 


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16 


cause  against  the  common  foe.  We 
will  entreat  tliem  to  stand  shoulder  to 
shoulder  and  hand  to  hand. 

I  have  somewhere  read  that  in  the 
early  sprin?  of  18<!3.  when  tlie  Federal 
and  confederate  armies  were  confront- 
ing each  other,  the  hands  chanced  one 
evening  to  he  playing,  on  either  side  of 
the  dividing  Kappahanmck.  On  the 
one  side,  it  was  "Star-Spangled  Ban- 
ner;" on  the  other  side,  it  was  "Dixie." 
One  the  one  side  it  was  "Columbia;" 
on  the  other,  it  was  "The  Bonnie  Blue 
Flag."  Presently  one  of  the  bands 
struck    up     "Home,     Sweet    Hooie." 


The  other  joined;  and  at  the  close,  there 
went  up  a  simultaneous  shout,  in  which 
not  even  the  listening  angels,  could  tell 
whether  the  acclaim  was  from  those 
who  wore  the  blue  or  the  gray.  In 
both  the  camps,  at  thought  of  home, 
there  was  something  which  d.-ew  heart 
to  heart. 

"Something  on  the  soldier's  cheek. 
Washed  off  the  powder's  stain.'' 

So  let  US  be  of  one  mind  and  one 
heart,  as  we  march  to  our  conflict 
against  intemperance,  to  our  victory 
for  "God  and  Native  Land!" 


